The woman-run silicone sex toy manufacturer Tantus has announced that their "Team Tantus" will be participating in Relay for Life 2011. In their fundraising efforts, Tantus has also created the limited edition Dark Vamp dildo and Dark Vamp Harness Kit – 100% of the proceeds from the sale of each item will go to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.

Explains Tantus:

In 2002, I was a single mom with a newborn. I knew she would change my life, but until her cancer diagnosis at 5 months of age, I didn't know just how much. I used to imagine her growing up to be an artist, a revolutionary, the first female President... now I just dream about her growing up. The help we received during her treatment made a huge impact, for both of us. As a healthy nine year old, she's starting to envision her own future – and cancer isn't in it.
— J.Clark, Marketing Coordinator, Tantus, Inc.

Cancer touches us all. At Tantus, over half the staff has had personal experience with cancer – either as a survivor, or having watched as a loved one is treated. It is for this reason that Team Tantus will be participating in Relay for Life 2011.

Tantus was co-founded in 1998 by Metis Black and her husband Kris Victor, who originated the designs and processes for its high quality sex toys. Tantus Toys are hypoallergenic, hygienic, phthalate free, odorless, tasteless, boilable, bleachable, dishwasher safe, and have been handmade in the US.

Read more about Tantus, Dark Vamp, and the unique Relay for Life cancer fundraising effort in this post by sex columnist Violet Blue. According to Blue, Tantus has also "done more to raise awareness about sex toy safety, model best practices with safe and sustainable business practices, and pushing the adult industry toward using nontoxic materials than anyone knows."